It was in Friedenau that Christoph Meckel wrote one of the most beautiful novels of the last century, Bockshorn (1973), the story of two boys’ search for their guardian angel. A few streets away, Uwe Johnson collected the days and dreams of his heroine, Gesine Cresspahl in his masterpiece, Anniversary (1970…), who remembers New York and the Hudson, Mecklenburg and the Baltic Sea. Meanwhile, his neighbour, Günter Grass, noted in From the Diary of a Snail (1972) that during the election year of 1969, Willy Brandt wore the watch of August Bebel… Rosa Luxemburg, Kurt Tucholsky, Erich Kästner, Max Hermann Neiße, Kurt Hiller, Rainer Maria Rilke, Hans-Magnus Enzensberger, Nicolas Born, Max Frisch...Their apartments and houses are still there.

We have documented Friedenau’s past as a haven for writers so that, with the help of the photos, readings, books and conversations, the literary dialogue in Friedenau might begin again.